In the News 17th August

Mondays News at a glance:

The Final Stab – Latest data finds no evidence that electronic cigarettes are a gateway to smoking for young people – expert reaction to survey on e-cigarette use among young people in the UK – Stanton Rants – Facebook vaping groups – a call to action – On the complete absence of ethical etc. thinking in tobacco control – Indiana Health Official Spreads Massive Lie Among Public, While Another Study Refutes the Gateway Hypothesis – Burdensome vaping regulation about revenue, not health – Bullying smokers won’t help them quit – Let’s ban those e-cigarettes… even though they’re no more dangerous than coffee – Nicotine Science and Policy – Daily Digest

Spanish Health Ministry has just published the preliminary draft law for TPD transposition in Spain. As all vaping advocates knew, this bill would be bad for vaping, vapers and traders in the country but, this time, the maneuver orchestrated by the health ministry bureaucrats and counselors, many of them with senior positions in medical associations, previously architects of disinformation that ended with the sector in Spain, has been proper to the very same Machiavelli….

That electronic cigarettes are a gateway to smoking for young people – ASH

New research from the ASH Smokefree GB Youth Survey published today in the journal Public Health and backed by further data from the 2015 wave, finds no evidence that young people are being recruited to smoking through their use of electronic cigarettes….

On e-cigarette use among young people in the UK – Science Media Centre

Prof. Linda Bauld, Professor of Health Policy, University of Stirling, and Chair in Behavioural Research for Cancer Prevention, said:

“Findings from this survey confirm what has been found in previous research – that more young people in Great Britain are aware of e-cigarettes and that experimentation with these products is becoming more common. However, the study found that in both 2013 and 2014 regular use (monthly or more) was confined almost entirely to young people who had already smoked…..”

Stanton Glantz has been quiet after being called out publicly by Doctor Farsalinos, who demanded a public debate so Glantz could justify his unsubstantiated claims and respond to allegations of corrupting research findings. Glantz refused to respond or engage with Farsalinos and little has come from him directly since, until now….

I’m a member of several vaping groups on Facebook. All have their own distinct tone – some are dedicated to the making of e-liquids, some focus on the politics, most are, purely and simply, a celebration of vaping.

Joyous comments about some obscure American premium eliquid (statistically most likely to be a custard derivative), comments or questions about a particular brand of tank, batteries, coils, wicks. You get the picture. Vaping stuff….

In a discussion group of scientists, policy-influencers, and other players in the world of THR (mostly e-cigarette) policy that I am a part of, there was a long discussion of mandatory “denicotinization” of cigarettes. As the discussion progressed, I ended up contributing an overview analysis of the whole matter that I think warrants a wider airing here…..

While Another Study Refutes the Gateway Hypothesis – The Rest of the Story

According to an article in the South Bend Tribune, the executive director of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center stated: “What we can gather is that students have this misconception it’s somehow safer than smoking a cigarette. I think the tobacco industry is really intentionally marketing e-cigarettes that way to make them appear, kind of by implication, that they’re safer than smoking a cigarette…..”

The state Legislature will introduce several bills for debate in a special session Wednesday which, again, will seek to wrongly equate vapor products – including electronic cigarettes – with tobacco, ban vaping in vape shops and allow local jurisdictions to tax tobacco. A bill seeking to equate tobacco products and vapor products was defeated in an Assembly policy committee last month….

I wholeheartedly support the ban on smoking inside pubs and restaurants that was introduced eight years ago — and it is clear it’s had a dramatic impact. It’s nice to go out for a meal or a drink and not stink of smoke afterwards.

But banning smoking in the open air is an entirely different matter. It’s emblematic of all that makes me loathe public health officials and their holier-than-thou finger-wagging….

As we discussed earlier this summer, New York City has stuck with their habit of making sure they regulate every aspect of your life by pushing through a ban on the indoor use of e-cigarettes. Never ones to be outdone, various Empire State counties quickly began working on their own, similar bans, including Broome and Rockland. While it’s taking a bit more time to herd the cats properly, there is still an ongoing effort to expand the ban across the entire state….